Systems and methods for image handling and presentation

ABSTRACT

Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for adaptive compression, transmission, and display of clinical images. Certain embodiments provide a method for adaptive compression of image data for transmission and display at a client workstation. The method includes identifying one or more images for display, the one or more images including a plurality of image slices. The method also includes determining a compression scheme for the one or more images based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, and diagnostic modality. The method further includes transferring the one or more images for display at the client workstation. The method additionally includes adapting the compression scheme based on resource availability.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/989,375, filed on Nov. 20, 2007, entitled“Special Methodic for Image Handling and Presentation”, which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[Not Applicable]

MICROFICHE/COPYRIGHT REFERENCE

[Not Applicable]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Healthcare environments, such as hospitals or clinics, includeinformation systems, such as hospital information systems (“HIS”),radiology information systems (“RIS), clinical information systems(“CIS”), and cardiovascular information systems (“CVIS”), and storagesystems, such as picture archiving and communication systems (“PACS”),library information systems (“LIS”), and electronic medical records(“EMR”). Information stored may include patient medical histories,imaging data, test results, diagnosis information, managementinformation, and/or scheduling information, for example. The informationmay be centrally stored or divided at a plurality of locations.Healthcare practitioners may desire to access patient information orother information at various points in a healthcare workflow. Forexample, during and/or after surgery, medical personnel may accesspatient information, such as images of a patient's anatomy, that arestored in a medical information system. Radiologist and/or otherclinicians may review stored images and/or other information, forexample.

Using a PACS and/or other workstation, a clinician, such as aradiologist, may perform a variety of activities, such as an imagereading, to facilitate a clinical workflow. A reading, such as aradiology or cardiology procedure reading, is a process of a healthcarepractitioner, such as a radiologist or a cardiologist, viewing digitalimages of a patient. The practitioner performs a diagnosis based on acontent of the diagnostic images and reports on results electronically(e.g., using dictation or otherwise) or on paper. The practitioner, suchas a radiologist or cardiologist, typically uses other tools to performdiagnosis. Some examples of other tools are prior and related prior(historical) exams and their results, laboratory exams (such as bloodwork), allergies, pathology results, medication, alerts, documentimages, and other tools. For example, a radiologist or cardiologisttypically looks into other systems such as laboratory information,electronic medical records, and healthcare information when readingexamination results.

PACS were initially used as an information infrastructure supportingstorage, distribution, and diagnostic reading of images acquired in thecourse of medical examinations. As PACS developed and became capable ofaccommodating vast volumes of information and its secure access, PACSbegan to expand into the information-oriented business and professionalareas of diagnostic and general healthcare enterprises. For variousreasons, including but not limited to a natural tendency of having oneinformation technology (IT) department, one server room, and one dataarchive/backup for all departments in healthcare enterprise, as well asone desktop workstation used for all business day activities of anyhealthcare professional, PACS is considered as a platform for growinginto a general IT solution for the majority of IT oriented services ofhealthcare enterprises.

Medical imaging devices now produce diagnostic images in a digitalrepresentation. The digital representation typically includes a twodimensional raster of the image equipped with a header includingcollateral information with respect to the image itself, patientdemographics, imaging technology, and other data used for properpresentation and diagnostic interpretation of the image. Often,diagnostic images are grouped in series each series representing imagesthat have some commonality and differ in one or more details. Forexample, images representing anatomical cross-sections of a human bodysubstantially normal to its vertical axis and differing by theirposition on that axis from top (head) to bottom (feet) are grouped inso-called axial series. A single medical exam, often referred as a“study” or an “exam” typically includes one or more series of images,such as images exposed before and after injection of contrast materialor images with different orientation or differing by any other relevantcircumstance(s) of imaging procedure. The digital images are forwardedto specialized archives equipped with proper means for safe storage,search, access, and distribution of the images and collateralinformation for successful diagnostic interpretation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methodsfor adaptive compression, transmission, and display of clinical images.

Certain embodiments provide a method for adaptive compression of imagedata for transmission and display at a client workstation. The methodincludes identifying one or more images for display, the one or moreimages including a plurality of image slices. The method also includesdetermining a compression scheme for the one or more images based on atleast one of bandwidth, processing power, and diagnostic modality. Themethod further includes transferring the one or more images for displayat the client workstation. The method additionally includes adapting thecompression scheme based on resource availability.

Certain embodiments provide a picture archiving and communicationssystem (PACS). The system includes a PACS server including a pluralityof images, the plurality of images including a plurality of imageslices. The system also includes a PACS workstation for displayingimages. The PACS server and the PACS workstation identify one or moreimages for display. A compression scheme is determined for the one ormore images based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, anddiagnostic modality. One or more images are transferred for display atthe client workstation. The compression scheme is adapted based onresource availability.

Certain embodiments provide a computer readable medium having a set ofinstructions for execution on a computing device. The set ofinstructions executes a method for adaptive compression of image datafor transmission and display at a client workstation. The methodincludes identifying one or more images for display, the one or moreimages including a plurality of image slices. The method also includesdetermining a compression scheme for the one or more images based on atleast one of bandwidth, processing power, and diagnostic modality. Themethod further includes transferring the one or more images for displayat the client workstation. The method additionally includes adapting thecompression scheme based on resource availability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 demonstrates a business and application diagram for PACSinformation system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an information system deliveringapplication and business content in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example clinical informationsystem that may be used to implement systems and methods describedherein.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an example processor system that may beused to implement systems and methods described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram for a method for adaptive compressionaccording to certain embodiments of the present invention.

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofcertain embodiments of the present invention, will be better understoodwhen read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose ofillustrating the invention, certain embodiments are shown in thedrawings. It should be understood, however, that the present inventionis not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in theattached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments relate to reading and interpretation of diagnosticimaging studies, stored in their digital representation and searched,retrieved, and read using a PACS and/or other clinical system. Incertain embodiments, images can be stored on a centralized server whilereading is performed from one or more remote workstations connected tothe server via electronic information links. Remote viewing creates acertain latency between a request for image(s) for diagnostic readingand availability of the images on a local workstation for navigation andreading. Additionally, a single server often provides images for aplurality of workstations that can be connected through electronic linkswith different bandwidths. Differing bandwidth can create a problem withrespect to balanced splitting of the transmitting capacity of thecentral server between multiple clients. Further, diagnostic images canbe stored in one or more advanced compression formats allowing fortransmission of a lossy image representation that is continuouslyimproving until finally reaching a lossless, more exact representation.In addition, a number of images produced per standard medicalexamination continues to grow, reaching 2,500 to 4,000 images per onetypical computed tomography (CT) exam compared to 50 images per one exama decade ago.

Certain embodiments provide “smart” storage, transfer, usability andpresentation of diagnostic images to help alleviate certain problemspreviously found in digital picture archiving and communication systems(PACS) including but not limited to: (1) a load on an informationsystem, (2) a load on a network data transferring system, (3) heavyrequirements to image content storage volume; and (4) latency time forimage retrieval, image transmission, and image rendering on a diagnosticworkstation's display. Additionally, certain embodiments help facilitateimproved ergonomic screen layout, image manipulation, and imagepresentation for a diagnostic physician to provide more effective visualperception and diagnostic reading.

Prior to archiving, digital images are subjected to different types ofcompression for minimization of required capacity of storage andbandwidth of information links. One compression standard used in medicalimaging and other media content information systems is the JPEG2000standard, which allows decomposition of an image into multiplecompression layers, each layer representing a certain scale andresolution of the image. Transmitting a few of the most coarse layers ofthe image may be used to represent the general image but may compromisethe image quality with respect to finer image details. Although coarseimage representation is not sufficient for diagnostic visual perception,it still can be suitable for getting a first impression of anatomicalscene, navigating through a stack of images to identify a clinicallyrelevant anatomical area, and/or any other interactive preprocessing ofthe image or whole medical examination. Subsequent transmission anddecompression of additional layers enriches the image with fine detailsand, upon transmission of all layers, reproduce the image in its exactrepresentation.

In certain embodiments, rather than having only one preferredcompression scheme (e.g., jpeg, wavelet, layered, etc.), severalcompression schemes can be provided in a single system, includinguncompressed files. Certain embodiments provide a variety of techniquesfor handling thin slice data. For example, several thin slices and onethick slice can be combined. Certain embodiments utilize similarity ofneighboring images to take advantage of common values to compressimages. For example, information common to the slices and informationregarding differences between the slices are stored so that the imageslices can be compressed using an appropriate mechanism and can bedelivered to a workstation on request to enable fine grain reading ofdiagnostic images. Certain embodiments find applicability for both longterm and short term storage depending on a combination of price ofstorage, price of transfer, load on local and remote networks, price ofcompression (e.g., time), etc.

Certain embodiments provide systems and methods for transfer, improvedstorage, and improved presentation and perception of diagnostic imagesand other viewable media in order to help reduce system cost andcomplexity as well as physician waiting time and to help improveperformance and work quality for a physician (and/or other workstationoperator) to implement a workflow associated with reading, reviewing,and/or other utilization of the media.

Certain embodiments provide an information system for a healthcareenterprise including a PACS system for radiology and/or othersubspecialty system as demonstrated by the business and applicationdiagram in FIG. 1. The system 100 of FIG. 1 includes a clinicalapplication 110, such as a radiology, cardiology, opthalmology,pathology, and/or application. The system 100 also includes a workflowdefinition 120 for each application 110. The workflow definitions 120communicate with a workflow engine 130. The workflow engine 130 is incommunication with a mirrored database 140, object definitions 60, andan object repository 170. The mirrored database 140 is in communicationwith a replicated storage 150. The object repository 170 includes datasuch as images, reports, documents, voice files, video clips, EKGinformation, etc.

An embodiment of an information system that delivers application andbusiness goals is presented in FIG. 2. The specific arrangement andcontents of the assemblies constituting this embodiment bears sufficientnovelty and constitute part of certain embodiments of the presentinvention. The information system 200 of FIG. 2 demonstrates servicesdivided among a service site 230, a customer site 210, and a clientcomputer 220. For example, a DICOM Server, HL7 Server, Web ServicesServer, Operations Server, database and other storage, an Object Server,and a Clinical Repository execute on a customer site 210. A Desk Shell,a Viewer, and a Desk Server execute on a client computer 220. A DICOMController, Compiler, and the like execute on a service site 230. Thus,operational and data workflow may be divided, and only a small displayworkload is placed on the client computer 220, for example.

Certain embodiments provide an architecture and framework for a varietyof clinical applications. The framework can include front-end componentsincluding but not limited to a Graphical User Interface (“GUI”) and canbe a thin client and/or thick client system to varying degree, whichsome or all applications and processing running on a client workstation,on a server, and/or running partially on a client workstation andpartially on a server, for example.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an example clinical information system300 capable of implementing the example methods and systems describedherein. The example clinical information system 300 includes a hospitalinformation system (“HIS”) 302, a radiology information system (“RIS”)304, a picture archiving and communication system (“PACS”) 306, aninterface unit 308, a data center 310, and a plurality of workstations312. In the illustrated example, the HIS 302, the RIS 304, and the PACS306 are housed in a healthcare facility and locally archived. However,in other implementations, the HIS 302, the RIS 304, and/or the PACS 306may be housed one or more other suitable locations. In certainimplementations, one or more of the PACS 306, RIS 304, HIS 302, etc.,can be implemented remotely via a thin client and/or downloadablesoftware solution. Furthermore, one or more components of the clinicalinformation system 300 may be combined and/or implemented together. Forexample, the RIS 304 and/or the PACS 306 may be integrated with the HIS302; the PACS 306 may be integrated with the RIS 304; and/or the threeexample information systems 302, 304, and/or 306 may be integratedtogether. In other example implementations, the clinical informationsystem 300 includes a subset of the illustrated information systems 302,304, and/or 306. For example, the clinical information system 300 mayinclude only one or two of the HIS 302, the RIS 304, and/or the PACS306. Preferably, information (e.g., scheduling, test results,observations, diagnosis, etc.) is entered into the HIS 302, the RIS 304,and/or the PACS 306 by healthcare practitioners (e.g., radiologists,physicians, and/or technicians) before and/or after patient examination.

The HIS 302 stores medical information such as clinical reports, patientinformation, and/or administrative information received from, forexample, personnel at a hospital, clinic, and/or a physician's office.The RIS 304 stores information such as, for example, radiology reports,messages, warnings, alerts, patient scheduling information, patientdemographic data, patient tracking information, and/or physician andpatient status monitors. Additionally, the RIS 304 enables exam orderentry (e.g., ordering an x-ray of a patient) and image and film tracking(e.g., tracking identities of one or more people that have checked out afilm). In some examples, information in the RIS 304 is formattedaccording to the Health Level Seven (“HL-7”) clinical communicationprotocol.

The PACS 306 stores medical images (e.g., x-rays, scans,three-dimensional renderings, etc.) as, for example, digital images in adatabase or registry. In some examples, the medical images are stored inthe PACS 306 using the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine(“DICOM”) format. Images are stored in the PACS 306 by healthcarepractitioners (e.g., imaging technicians, physicians, radiologists)after a medical imaging of a patient and/or are automaticallytransmitted from medical imaging devices to the PACS 306 for storage. Insome examples, the PACS 306 may also include a display device and/orviewing workstation to enable a healthcare practitioner to communicatewith the PACS 306.

The interface unit 308 includes a hospital information system interfaceconnection 314, a radiology information system interface connection 316,a PACS interface connection 318, and a data center interface connection320. The interface unit 308 facilities communication among the HIS 302,the RIS 304, the PACS 306, and/or the data center 310. The interfaceconnections 314, 316, 318, and 320 may be implemented by, for example, aWide Area Network (“WAN”) such as a private network or the Internet.Accordingly, the interface unit 308 includes one or more communicationcomponents such as, for example, an Ethernet device, an asynchronoustransfer mode (“ATM”) device, an 802.11 device, a DSL modem, a cablemodem, a cellular modem, etc. In turn, the data center 310 communicateswith the plurality of workstations 312, via a network 322, implementedat a plurality of locations (e.g., a hospital, clinic, doctor's office,other medical office, or terminal, etc.). The network 322 is implementedby, for example, the Internet, an intranet, a private network, a wiredor wireless Local Area Network, and/or a wired or wireless Wide AreaNetwork. In some examples, the interface unit 308 also includes a broker(e.g., a Mitra Imaging's PACS Broker) to allow medical information andmedical images to be transmitted together and stored together.

In operation, the interface unit 308 receives images, medical reports,administrative information, and/or other clinical information from theinformation systems 302, 304, 306 via the interface connections 314,316, 318. If necessary (e.g., when different formats of the receivedinformation are incompatible), the interface unit 308 translates orreformats (e.g., into Structured Query Language (“SQL”) or standardtext) the medical information, such as medical reports, to be properlystored at the data center 310. Preferably, the reformatted medicalinformation may be transmitted using a transmission protocol to enabledifferent medical information to share common identification elements,such as a patient name or social security number. Next, the interfaceunit 308 transmits the medical information to the data center 310 viathe data center interface connection 320. Finally, medical informationis stored in the data center 310 in, for example, the DICOM format,which enables medical images and corresponding medical information to betransmitted and stored together.

The medical information is later viewable and easily retrievable at oneor more of the workstations 312 (e.g., by their common identificationelement, such as a patient name or record number). The workstations 312may be any equipment (e.g., a personal computer) capable of executingsoftware that permits electronic data (e.g., medical reports) and/orelectronic medical images (e.g., x-rays, ultrasounds, MRI scans, etc.)to be acquired, stored, or transmitted for viewing and operation. Theworkstations 312 receive commands and/or other input from a user via,for example, a keyboard, mouse, track ball, microphone, etc. As shown inFIG. 3, the workstations 312 are connected to the network 322 and, thus,can communicate with each other, the data center 310, and/or any otherdevice coupled to the network 322. The workstations 312 are capable ofimplementing a user interface 324 to enable a healthcare practitioner tointeract with the clinical information system 300. For example, inresponse to a request from a physician, the user interface 324 presentsa patient medical history. Additionally, the user interface 324 includesone or more options related to the example methods and apparatusdescribed herein to organize such a medical history using classificationand severity parameters.

The example data center 310 of FIG. 3 is an archive to store informationsuch as, for example, images, data, medical reports, and/or, moregenerally, patient medical records. In addition, the data center 310 mayalso serve as a central conduit to information located at other sourcessuch as, for example, local archives, hospital informationsystems/radiology information systems (e.g., the HIS 302 and/or the RIS304), or medical imaging/storage systems (e.g., the PACS 306 and/orconnected imaging modalities). That is, the data center 310 may storelinks or indicators (e.g., identification numbers, patient names, orrecord numbers) to information. In the illustrated example, the datacenter 310 is managed by an application server provider (“ASP”) and islocated in a centralized location that may be accessed by a plurality ofsystems and facilities (e.g., hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices,other medical offices, and/or terminals). In some examples, the datacenter 310 may be spatially distant from the HIS 302, the RIS 304,and/or the PACS 306 (e.g., at General Electric® headquarters).

The example data center 310 of FIG. 3 includes a server 326, a database328, and a record organizer 330. The server 326 receives, processes, andconveys information to and from the components of the clinicalinformation system 300. The database 328 stores the medical informationdescribed herein and provides access thereto. The example recordorganizer 330 of FIG. 3 manages patient medical histories, for example.The record organizer 330 can also assist in procedure scheduling, forexample.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example processor system 410 that may beused to implement systems and methods described herein. As shown in FIG.4, the processor system 410 includes a processor 412 that is coupled toan interconnection bus 414. The processor 412 may be any suitableprocessor, processing unit, or microprocessor, for example. Although notshown in FIG. 4, the system 410 may be a multi-processor system and,thus, may include one or more additional processors that are identicalor similar to the processor 412 and that are communicatively coupled tothe interconnection bus 414.

The processor 412 of FIG. 4 is coupled to a chipset 418, which includesa memory controller 420 and an input/output (“I/O”) controller 422. Asis well known, a chipset typically provides I/O and memory managementfunctions as well as a plurality of general purpose and/or specialpurpose registers, timers, etc. that are accessible or used by one ormore processors coupled to the chipset 418. The memory controller 420performs functions that enable the processor 412 (or processors if thereare multiple processors) to access a system memory 424 and a massstorage memory 425.

The system memory 424 may include any desired type of volatile and/ornon-volatile memory such as, for example, static random access memory(“SRAM”), dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”), flash memory, read-onlymemory (“ROM”), etc. The mass storage memory 425 may include any desiredtype of mass storage device including hard disk drives, optical drives,tape storage devices, etc.

The I/O controller 422 performs functions that enable the processor 412to communicate with peripheral input/output (I/O) devices 426 and 428and a network interface 430 via an I/O bus 432. The I/O devices 426 and428 may be any desired type of I/O device such as, for example, akeyboard, a video display or monitor, a mouse, etc. The networkinterface 430 may be, for example, an Ethernet device, an asynchronoustransfer mode (“ATM”) device, an 802.11 device, a DSL modem, a cablemodem, a cellular modem, etc. that enables the processor system 410 tocommunicate with another processor system.

While the memory controller 420 and the I/O controller 422 are depictedin FIG. 4 as separate blocks within the chipset 418, the functionsperformed by these blocks may be integrated within a singlesemiconductor circuit or may be implemented using two or more separateintegrated circuits.

According to certain embodiments considered as examples in the presentapplication, media files imported from a medical imaging device into aPACS are optionally subjected to a layered incremental compression.Certain media files are grouped in sequences called series, and certainseries are grouped into studies, where each study represents a total setof media associated with a single medical exam. Each such study can beoptionally attributed to a study type, where each study type isassociated with a certain protocol for study interpretation. Theprotocol can include but is not limited to an order and positions forseries display, configuration of a toolbar, annotation and measuringtools, and/or other data required for more efficient presentation ofdiagnostic images and rendering of a diagnosis. The set of tools andresources is referred to as a “study layout.”

For each study registered in the database, an algorithm (e.g., a uniquealgorithm) exists for creation of a list of respective series andindividual images included in the study and selection of a proper layoutfor study display. Upon getting a request for study display, the serverfirst generates comprehensive lists of media files to be used forreading the study and a related layout for study display. These listsare transferred to a client workstation and copies are kept on theserver. According to the generated list of media files and a chosenlayout for their presentation on the client workstation, a plan fortransferring and optional processing and/or decompression of the mediafiles is built and coordinated between client and server.

According to that plan, a first batch of media transfer includes aminimum amount of compression layers to deliver a coarse enoughrepresentation of the image(s) provided such that the coarserepresentation, while not suitable for diagnostic reading, is sufficientfor navigating between the images to review the whole study and thenfocus on images with high diagnostic value. Upon presentation of theimages on the diagnostic or other workstation, tools are offered to anoperator for implementation of a diagnostic workflow or other relevantworkflow. For example, tools can include but are not limited to:scrolling through the stack of images, adjusting brightness/contrast ofthe images, making measurements and annotations of the images, renderingsome other representation(s) such as three-dimensional (“3D”) or obliqueslicing, dictation and reporting tools, and/or other relevant tools.

A variety of image display and manipulation tools and otherfunctionality can be provided by the PACS framework described above. Thefollowing description details several examples for purposes ofillustration only.

A FIRST EMBODIMENT

According to a first embodiment, an interactive control is provided forscrolling through images representing successively adjacent andsubstantially parallel geometrical cross-sections of a human bodyanatomy (or its functional mapped representation) that are combined insame image series. According to government and professional regulations,a diagnostic physician is responsible for visual perception of allclinical evidence collected under each diagnostic exam. Visualperception is usually carried out in the process of routine scrolling ofthe whole image stack consolidated in the same image series. Thus,presentation software facilitates display of each successive image for areasonable period of time upon such interactive scrolling. Intraditional systems, this functionality is implemented using a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse, trackball, or other type of device) wherebydisplay of the next image is triggered upon identification of screencursor displacement over certain pre-defined number of screen pixels.This simplistic implementation suffers from a dependency on thescrolling time of the overall image stack as a function of image slicethickness.

For purposes of illustration and example only, consider a whole bodyscan of a 180 cm (˜6 feet) height patient. Suppose, for example purposesonly, that each image of this scan bears information with respect to ananatomical slab of 5 mm thickness (which is typical for MagneticResonance diagnostic exams)—thus producing total of 360 images for thewhole body scan. Also suppose that the example system is rigidlyconfigured in such a way that display of the next image in the imagestack is triggered by displacement of the screen pointer by 3 screenpixels. Then, to scroll through the entire image stack, the pointingdevice cursor or indicator is moved across 1080 screen pixels orapproximately the vertical size of most of consumer monitors and aboutthe half-height of a typical medical imaging monitor. Alternatively, forexample, consider a whole body scan upon computed tomography (CT)medical examination with a typical slice thickness of 0.67 111 m—thusproviding 2,700 images. If displayed on the same system as described inprevious example, scrolling of this image stack would involvedisplacement of the pointing device by about eight thousand pixels,which is about eight times the size of consumer monitors or about threetimes of the size of highest resolution medical monitors.

In the first embodiment, a relation between a pointing devicedisplacement used to trigger display of a next image in a stack is setadaptively to a slice thickness in such a way that a total displacementof a pointing device screen cursor or indicator by a predefined numberof screen pixels causes scrolling of a plurality of images thatsubstantially sweep a predefined length of anatomical volume,independent of a separation between geometrical locations of adjacentimages.

That is, depending upon image characteristics (e.g., anatomy, modality,zoom, etc.), a user may run out of room or display area on the screenwhen moving a mouse to scroll through a series of images. Certainembodiments mitigate an effect of slice thickness. The interface can beconfigured such that moving a display cursor by two pixels should causea displacement of two millimeters in the imaged anatomy. Alternatively,the interface can be configured so that moving a display cursor from topto bottom in a viewport scrolls the image stack from top image to bottomimage. In certain embodiments, a mouse or cursor movement mode can bemanaged through regular movement, through an additional button press,etc.

A SECOND EMBODIMENT

In the first embodiment, described above, image stacks are scrolled moreergonomically regardless of substantially differing spatial separationbetween adjacent images. In a second embodiment, substantially identicalimage stacks can be scrolled through on a plurality of workstations thatdiffer in monitor resolution. In such resolution-varying systems, adisplacement of a physical pointing device, such as a mouse, trackballor other device, by the same physical distance results in substantiallydifferent displacements of the screen cursor as measured in screenpixels. Varying cursor displacements in turn results in scrollingthrough a substantially different plurality of the images on eachworkstation. According to the second embodiment, a control system can beadaptively configured such that a physical displacement of a pointingdevice by a predefined physical measure results in scrolling throughsubstantially the same number of images independent of a screenresolution and/or other properties and parameters of a physical deviceand/or a workstation on which the images are being displayed.

That is, mouse or displayed cursor travel is connected with displayedpixels. If a user moves, for example, from an office computer to a homecomputer with different pixel and/or display size, a display measure isconnected to a slice stack measure to facilitate image stack navigationand display. For example, a percentage of a human body and/or apercentage of an image slice stack can be mapped to a percentage of adisplay, a dimension of the display (e.g., centimeters, millimeters,etc.), a fraction of a placeholder, etc.

A THIRD EMBODIMENT

A third embodiment is a combination of the first and second embodiments.According to the third embodiment, a scrolling control subsystem can beconfigured such that a physical displacement of a pointing device bysubstantially the same physical measure results in scrolling through aplurality of images that substantially sweep a predefined length of ananatomical volume independent of a separation between geometricallocations of adjacent images and also independent of properties andparameters of a physical device and/or a workstation upon which theimages are being viewed.

A FOURTH EMBODIMENT

According to a fourth embodiment, continuous scrolling of the images canbe triggered by an action other than use of a pointing device. Forexample, triggering can be implemented by pressing and holding a key,button, or pedal and/or through another physical trigger. According tothe fourth embodiment, scrolling speed is adjusted such that within apredetermined time interval an image stack is scrolled through aplurality of images that substantially sweep a predefined length of ananatomical volume independent of a separation between geometricallocations of adjacent images.

Thus, for example, a user can trigger scrolling, and images are scrolledautomatically until the user releases the trigger. Scrolling speed isdependent not only on slice numbers but also on a progressing of theslices through their position in the human body (e.g., one inch persecond or the whole stack of images is scrolled through in 10 seconds toprovide an overview).

A FIFTH EMBODIMENT

According to a fifth embodiment, diagnostic images imported by a PACS donot undergo immediate compression if a bandwidth of one or moreinformation links used for delivery of the images to the workstation(s)is wide enough to facilitate prompt downloading of images to the localworkstations. The “wide enough” criteria can be established in aplurality of ways including but not limited to: (1) determined by adirect assessment of the actual bandwidth of the data links, (2) setmanually upon configuration of the system, (c) a combination of above,etc. According to this embodiment, diagnostic images stored in thesystem can be further optionally subjected to “aging” compression toreduce a volume of long term storage to either lossless or lossyquality. An exact compression ratio formula can be based on acombination of factors that can be assessed individually for each imageor collectively for a plurality of images. Factors include but are notlimited to a combination of: diagnostic modality, nature of exam, timeelapsed from exam itself and/or from last access to the image(s),institution and/or governmental regulations, etc. The “agingcompression” can be optionally scheduled for “low CPU usage hours” andtriggered by a combination of factors, the exact formula based on butnot limited to combination of: age of the images, time elapsed sincelast access to images, diagnostic modality and/or nature of the exam,regulations and preferences of institutions, societies and individuals,and/or other factors.

Compression algorithms often attempt to squeeze the volume of the imagedata as close as possible to a minimum. With multi-slice CT, forexample, image data occupies gigabytes because the entry level andimages reside on a computer but must be uncompressed, a process whichtakes time, especially for images processed and compressed by a thirdparty system. Images can be prioritized such that an active imagereceives priority for loading and the next image behind the active imagereceives priority as well. If a certain compression method fails toprovide sufficient throughput and/or response time, network shortcomingsmay be addressed instead. For example, a three dimensional viewer mayneed all volume data decompressed rather than using partial data.Therefore, in certain cases, images may not be compressed at all.

Thus, certain embodiments provide adaptive compression to determinewhether to compress or provide image data uncompressed or to provide acombination of compressed and uncompressed image data. In certainembodiments, a PACS server may store two copies, one compressed and onenon-compressed, and choose which one to transfer. May choose, forexample, if within hospital use non-compressed.

As an example, if a physician is working from home, compression of imagedata may be appropriate, but the user may not need adaptive compressionwith prioritization. In certain embodiments, the system can adjust thecompression method dynamically as data is being transferred. Forexample, a transfer may begin with compressed data and then determinethat all the images should be transferred for viewing rather a sequenceof one by one. However, available processing power may be lower thanavailable bandwidth on the transmission line, so the bottleneck is dueto compression. As a result, the remainder of transferred images can betransferred using a decompressed representation. Transmission status canbe reviewed again and transmission/compression format can be changedagain. Thus, aging compression involves evaluating image datatransmission and compression and adjusting compression and/or imageresolution based on transmission status, for example.

A SIXTH EMBODIMENT

According to a sixth embodiment, similar to the fifth embodimentdescribed above, images are delivered to a viewing workstation either ina compressed or in an original (non-compressed) format. A decisionregarding the delivery format is made by a formula based on acombination of certain factors including but not limited to: a bandwidthof an information link between server and workstation, a type ofinformation link (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network(WAN), Internet, virtual private network (VPN), other), processing powerof the workstation, institution policy, individual preferences, etc. Oneor more of the selected factors can be (a) set manually uponconfiguration of the system and/or setting policy and/or preferences;(b) assessed automatically upon system functioning; (c) by combinationof the above; and/or (d) by other suitable method. Selective deliverycan be facilitated by keeping multiple copies of the same data in allinvolved formats or by “on-demand” preparation of a particular formatfrom one or more storage format(s) by a processing engine.

A SEVENTH EMBODIMENT

According to a seventh embodiment, images and data used for rendering afirst screen on a display workstation and initiating a correspondinginteractive or automated workflow are delivered in a special “start up”format. The format is one effective for reducing latency time inawaiting the first visual screen and/or other resources for initiationof the workstation's workflow. The start-up format is defined by aformula based on a combination of certain factors including but notlimited to: bandwidth of an information link between server andworkstation, a type of link (e.g., LAN, WAN, Internet, VPN, etc.),processing power of the workstation, institution policy, individualpreferences, etc. One or more of the selected factor(s) can be (a) setmanually upon configuration of the system and/or setting policy and/orpreferences; (b) assessed automatically upon system functioning; (c) bya combination of the above; and/or (d) by other suitable method.

The “start-up” data format can be predetermined and securely stored onthe server, or created on-demand by conversion from a storage format bya processing engine. Subsequent data delivered to the workstation afterinitiation start-up screen and workflow can be delivered by otherloading format(s) and/or other loading plan(s) including but not limitedto those disclosed in other embodiments.

The special start up or initial format can be implemented in a varietyof ways. For example, the special format can be an overview screenshotof certain images but not a single individual image. This first contentfor the screen can be prepared in advance. An image study can bereviewed to create a metadata file describing the whole study but notbuilding the study. Building the study can be performed by retrievingimages with the same study number from an image database, for example,and delivered to a client workstation in digested form while thepre-form first content (e.g., a static first view) is being displayed toa reviewing physician at the client workstation. For example, apre-generated first view typical for that workstation, such as a staticoverview image, can be provided to allow the physician to spend a fewseconds looking rather than being idle and waiting for image delivery.

AN EIGHTH EMBODIMENT

According to an eighth embodiment, an information system imports aseries of images that represent substantially parallel cross-sections ofa patient anatomy and sweep some anatomical volume with high density ofsubstantially adjacent image. Thus, the series of images provides highspatial resolution at least in a direction normal to the planes ofcross-sections. According to this embodiment, the image series can besubjected to “aging consolidation” by grouping an initial series ofimages into a plurality of spatially confined and successively adjacentgroups of images and consolidating a plurality of consecutive imagesbelonging to a same spatially confined group into one image or anotherplurality of images with reduced spatial resolution while substantiallyrepresenting an anatomical slab covered by a respective group ofinitially non-consolidated of images.

Image slice consolidation can be achieved by a variety of methodsincluding but not limited to: combining respective pixels of neighboringimages into one pixel; combining a plurality of neighboring pixels ofthe same image into one pixel; and/or combining respective groups ofneighboring pixels on neighboring slices into one pixel, for example.

As discussed above, combining respective pixels of neighboring imagesinto one pixel can be achieved by a variety of methods including but notlimited to: mean value, median value, maximum value, minimum value, etc.Combining a group of neighboring pixels of the same image into one pixelcan be achieved by a variety of methods including but not limited to:mean value, median value, maximum value, minimum value, etc. Combiningrespective groups of neighboring pixels on neighboring slices into onepixel can be achieved by a variety of methods including but not limitedto: mean value, median value, maximum value, minimum value, etc.

The method used and consolidation formula are based on the combinationof factors including but not limited to: diagnostic modality, initialspatial resolution, nature of exam, time elapsed from exam and/or fromlast access to the data, institution and/or governmental regulations,etc. Consolidation can be scheduled for “low CPU usage hours” andtriggered by a scheduling formula based on a combination of factorsincluding but not limited to: age of the images; time elapsed since lastaccess to images, diagnostic modality and/or nature of the exam,regulations and preferences of institutions, societies and individuals,etc.

CT scanners can produce slices with a thickness of less than 1 mm withhigh resolution. Rendering three dimensional images involves slices withhigh resolution. Sometimes high resolution is used when looking for tinydetails (e.g., vessels, plaque on vessel walls, etc.) in images. Tostore these high resolution slices is expensive as is transferring thembecause a wide bandwidth network is used. Therefore, dedicatedworkstations are often configured to use high resolution data, whichthey then send to a PACS workstation as consolidated data (e.g.,averaging image data across four slices of 0.7 mm into one slice of 3mm) so that the PACS workstation displays images of inferior quality todedicated workstations. However, the PACS can store patient historyinformation and includes diagnostic tools, etc.

Rather than forcing a physician to physically move to a dedicatedviewing workstation for better presentation but no additional patientinformation, which often involves moving from a dark room to a lightroom and back to a dark room (thus interfering with a physician'svision), certain embodiments provide launching of all such content froma PACS workstation. If a server or other system sends lower resolutiondata to a PACS workstation and then needs to send high resolution data,two sets of data (e.g., one low resolution and one high resolution) canbe sent.

A NINTH EMBODIMENT

According to a ninth embodiment, the eighth embodiment is modified suchthat in addition to producing a set of consolidated lower resolutionimages, a difference between initial data and consolidated data iscalculated and stored in the system in a form targeted for substantialpreserving of high resolution data for its optional usage whendiagnostic quality of low resolution consolidated images is notsufficient. Calculating and storing the difference can help improvestorage performance and/or reduce storage cost, for example. Storage ofthe difference between high resolution and low resolution data caninclude but is not limited to following: the difference is converted tocompressed lossless or lossy format and stored together withconsolidated data; the difference is converted to another reducedresolution format stored together with consolidated data; the differenceis converted to an appropriate format including but not limited tocompressed and/or reduced resolution and/or original format, but storedin some storage other than the storage used for consolidated data withlower price per megabyte or for any other practical reason, for example.

Thus, a physician or other user of the system can access aged imageswith reduced spatial resolution, while having an ability to access thefull resolution images in a substantially representative appearance. Thesubstantially representative appearance of the full resolution data canbe reconstructed in advance or on-demand by adding to each consolidatedimage the difference between original image and consolidated one. Thedifference can be pre-calculated as part of the aging consolidation, forexample.

As an example, a reference frame can be stored along with a differencebetween each reference frame and surrounding intermediate frames. Asanother example, rather than using every tenth frame as representativeimage data, an average of each consecutive ten frames is determined togenerate a consolidated representation of the anatomical value. Thus, athick image slice can be created that has image data values as if theslice was generated with an old modality at thickness of, for example, 3mm rather than 0.7 mm. The thicker slice may be good for comparison butnot for sophisticated volume rendered or analysis applications, forexample.

For the remainder of the image data, there are many economical ways tostore that difference data. For example, a lossy compression can be usedto make compromises on low level details but maintain high leveldifference information between images. Difference data can be maintainedon a remote storage with high latency access but low cost, for example.The difference data can have its own life cycle and plan. For example,image difference data may be kept whole on an image archive and, after ayear, be subject to lossy compression for further storage. After anotheryear, the compressed data is subject to another lossy compression, and,after five years, the archived difference data is deleted, for example.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram for a method 500 for adaptivecompression according to certain embodiments of the present invention.At 510, one or more images to be transmitted are identified. Forexample, an image study including a plurality of image slices from apatient exam is requested for viewing at a PACS workstation.

At 520, image slices are combined or consolidated according to one ormore combination schemes. For example, several thin slices and one thickslice can be combined. Similarity of neighboring images can be used toidentify common image information and difference informationdistinguishing slices from the common values. As another example, animage series can be grouped into a plurality of spatially confined andsuccessively adjacent groups of images, where consecutive imagesbelonging to the same spatially confined group are consolidated into oneimage. Respective pixels of neighboring images can be combined into onepixel, for example, such as by mean value, median value, maximum value,minimum value, etc. As a further example, a difference between initialdata and consolidated data is determined and stored. Difference data canbe used with consolidated data when high resolution images aredisplayed, and consolidated data can be used without difference data forcoarser images, for example. Consolidated data and difference data canbe stored, compressed, and/or transmitted differently, for example.

At 530, an applicable compression scheme is determined for thetransmitted image data. For example, several compression schemes can beprovided, including jpeg, wavelet, layered, uncompressed, etc. Commonvalues and difference information for a series of image slices can becompressed separately according to the same or different compressionscheme, for example. Imported media files can be subjected to a layeredincremental compression, for example. Adaptive compression determineswhether to provide compress image data, uncompressed image data, or acombination of compressed and uncompressed image data. In an embodiment,a PACS server can store both compressed and uncompressed copies of imagedata and select which copy to transfer. In an embodiment, datatransmission bandwidth is analyzed to determine whether compression iswarranted for data or if the bandwidth is wide enough for uncompresseddata transmission. In certain embodiments, a compression ratio formulacan be based on a combination of factors related to individual imagesand/or groups of images such as bandwidth, processing power, diagnosticmodality, exam type, time elapsed, regulations, etc. Compressionselection can be made automatically based on certain parameters,including but not limited to those described above, can be set manually,or can be set by a combination of automated and manual selection.

At 540, image data is transferred to a client workstation for display.As an example, a first batch of image data transfer includes a minimumamount of compression layers to deliver a coarse representation of theimage(s) sufficient for a user to navigate between images to review thestudy and further request and focus on images of high diagnostic value.For example, a start-up or initial image may be provided for initialuser review while full image slices are being loaded in the backgroundfor subsequent display.

At 550, a compression and/or transfer scheme is adapted based onresource availability. For example, transfer link bandwidth, link type,processing power, viewing application requirements, governmentregulations, user preference, etc., can be used to adapt a compressionand/or consolidation scheme for image data.

At 560, a user can interact with the displayed image data. For example,pointing device displacement can be set adaptively to image slicethickness such that a total displacement of a pointing device by apredefined number of screen pixels causes scrolling of a plurality ofimage slices that sweep a predefined anatomical volume regardless ofslice thickness. As another example, a physical displacement of apointing device by a predefined physical measure results in scrollingthrough substantially the same name number of image slices independentof screen resolution, device properties, and/or workstation parameters(e.g., a percentage of a human body and/or a percentage of a stack ofimage slices can be mapped to a percentage or dimension of a workstationdisplay for viewing). As a further example, scrolling of image slicescan be triggered, and images are scrolling based on an adjustablescrolling speed such that a certain anatomical volume and/or stack ofimages is displayed within a certain time period.

One or more of the steps of the method 500 may be implemented alone orin combination in hardware, firmware, and/or as a set of instructions insoftware, for example. Certain examples may be provided as a set ofinstructions residing on a computer-readable medium, such as a memory,hard disk, DVD, or CD, for execution on a general purpose computer orother processing device.

Certain examples may omit one or more of these steps and/or perform thesteps in a different order than the order listed. For example, somesteps may not be performed in certain examples. As a further example,certain steps may be performed in a different temporal order, includingsimultaneously, than listed above.

Thus, certain embodiments provide different methods for packaging imagedata for delivery and display. Currently, most PACS utilize onepreferred compression scheme (e.g., jpeg, wavelet, or layered). Certainembodiments provide a plurality of compression methods in one system,including uncompressed files, for selection based on network and systemconstraints. Additionally, different methods for handling thin slicedata are provided. For example, several thin slices and one thick slicecan be combined for transmission and display. As another example,compression utilizing similarity of neighboring images is used to takeadvantage of common values to compress image data. Common or referenceinformation is stored as well as information regarding differencesbetween the slices so that these can be compressed using the appropriatemechanism and can be delivered to workstation(s) on request to enablefine reading. Certain embodiments provide methods and systems useful forboth long term and short term storage depending on a combination ofprice of storage, price of transfer, load on local and remote networks,and price of compression (time), for example. Certain embodimentsprovide a technical effect of adaptive compression and packaging ofimage data for transmission and display, for example.

It should be understood by any experienced in the art that the inventiveelements, inventive paradigms and inventive methods are represented bycertain exemplary embodiments only. However, the actual scope of theinvention and its inventive elements extends far beyond selectedembodiments and should be considered separately in the context of widearena of the development, engineering, vending, service and support ofthe wide variety of information and computerized systems with specialaccent to sophisticated systems of high load and/or high throughputand/or high performance and/or distributed and/or federated and/ormulti-specialty nature.

Certain embodiments contemplate methods, systems and computer programproducts on any machine-readable media to implement functionalitydescribed above. Certain embodiments may be implemented using anexisting computer processor, or by a special purpose computer processorincorporated for this or another purpose or by a hardwired and/orfirmware system, for example.

One or more of the components of the systems and/or steps of the methodsdescribed above may be implemented alone or in combination in hardware,firmware, and/or as a set of instructions in software, for example.Certain embodiments may be provided as a set of instructions residing ona computer-readable medium, such as a memory, hard disk, DVD, or CD, forexecution on a general purpose computer or other processing device.Certain embodiments of the present invention may omit one or more of themethod steps and/or perform the steps in a different order than theorder listed. For example, some steps may not be performed in certainembodiments of the present invention. As a further example, certainsteps may be performed in a different temporal order, includingsimultaneously, than listed above.

Certain embodiments include computer-readable media for carrying orhaving computer-executable instructions or data structures storedthereon. Such computer-readable media may be any available media thatmay be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer orother machine with a processor. By way of example, suchcomputer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used tocarry or store desired program code in the form of computer-executableinstructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a generalpurpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media. Computer-executable instructions comprise, forexample, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer,special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines toperform a certain function or group of functions.

Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particulartasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of program code for executing steps of certain methods andsystems disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represent examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in a networkedenvironment using logical connections to one or more remote computershaving processors. Logical connections may include a local area network(LAN) and a wide area network (WAN) that are presented here by way ofexample and not limitation. Such networking environments are commonplacein office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and theInternet and may use a wide variety of different communicationprotocols. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such networkcomputing environments will typically encompass many types of computersystem configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and thelike. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributedcomputing environments where tasks are performed by local and remoteprocessing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wirelesslinks, or by a combination of hardwired or wireless links) through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

An exemplary system for implementing the overall system or portions ofembodiments of the invention might include a general purpose computingdevice in the form of a computer, including a processing unit, a systemmemory, and a system bus that couples various system componentsincluding the system memory to the processing unit. The system memorymay include read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). Thecomputer may also include a magnetic hard disk drive for reading fromand writing to a magnetic hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for readingfrom or writing to a removable magnetic disk, and an optical disk drivefor reading from or writing to a removable optical disk such as a CD ROMor other optical media. The drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofcomputer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data for the computer.

While the invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to theparticular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include allembodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for adaptive compression of image data for transmission anddisplay at a client workstation, said method comprising: identifying oneor more images for display, the one or more images including a pluralityof image slices; determining a compression scheme for the one or moreimages based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, anddiagnostic modality; transferring the one or more images for display atthe client workstation; and adapting the compression scheme based onresource availability.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the compressionscheme includes one or more of jpeg compression, wavelet compression,layered compression, layered incremental compression, and uncompressed.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising consolidating the pluralityof image slices according to one or more consolidation schemes based onimage slice data.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein a plurality ofneighboring thin image slices are combined with a thicker image sliceand common image information is identified as a consolidated data forthe combined image slice and difference data is formed to distinguishslices from the common image information.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the consolidated data and difference data are compressedaccording to different compression schemes.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising interacting with the displayed one or more images atthe client workstation.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein interactingcomprises setting point device displacement to image slice thicknesssuch that a displacement of the point device by a predefined number ofdisplayed pixels causes scrolling of a plurality of image slices thatsweep a predefined anatomical volume.
 8. The method of claim 6, whereininteracting comprises physically displacing a pointing device by apredefined physical distance to scroll through a number of image slicesindependent of screen resolution, pointing device properties, andworkstation parameters.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein interactingcomprises scrolling through image slices based on an adjustablescrolling speed such that a predefined anatomical volume is displayedwith in a predefined time period.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinboth compressed and uncompressed copies of the one or more images arestored for selection and transfer.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining a compression scheme is set at least one of automaticallyand manually.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring furthercomprises transferring an initial image for display while the one ormore images are being transferred to the client workstation.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein adapting the compression scheme furthercomprises adapting the compression scheme based on at least one oftransfer bandwidth, processing power, and viewing applicationrequirements on the client workstation.
 14. A picture archiving andcommunications system (PACS), said system comprising: a PACS serverincluding a plurality of images, the plurality of images including aplurality of image slices; and a PACS workstation for displaying images,wherein the PACS server and the PACS workstation identify one or moreimages for display; determining a compression scheme for the one or moreimages based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, anddiagnostic modality; transfer the one or more images for display at theclient workstation; and adapting the compression scheme based onresource availability.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein thecompression scheme includes one or more of jpeg compression, waveletcompression, layered compression, layered incremental compression, anduncompressed.
 16. The system of claim 14, further comprisingconsolidating the plurality of image slices according to one or moreconsolidation schemes.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein a pluralityof neighboring thin image slices are combined with a thicker image sliceand common image information is identified as a consolidated data forthe combined image slice and difference data is formed to distinguishslices from the common image information.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein the consolidated data and difference data are compressedaccording to different compression schemes.
 19. The system of claim 14,wherein the PACS workstation allows a user to interact with thedisplayed one or more images.
 20. The system of claim 19, whereininteracting comprises setting point device displacement to image slicethickness such that a displacement of the point device by a predefinednumber of displayed pixels causes scrolling of a plurality of imageslices that sweep a predefined anatomical volume.
 21. The system ofclaim 19, wherein interacting comprises physically displacing a pointingdevice by a predefined physical distance to scroll through a number ofimage slices independent of screen resolution, pointing deviceproperties, and workstation parameters.
 22. The system of claim 19,wherein interacting comprises scrolling through image slices based on anadjustable scrolling speed such that a predefined anatomical volume isdisplayed with in a predefined time period.
 23. The system of claim 14,wherein both compressed and uncompressed copies of the one or moreimages are stored at the PACS server for selection and transfer.
 24. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the PACS server transfers an initial imagefor display while the one or more images are being transferred to thePACS workstation.
 25. The system of claim 14, wherein the compressionscheme is adapted based on at least one of transfer bandwidth,processing power, and viewing application requirements on the PACSworkstation.
 26. A computer readable medium having a set of instructionsfor execution on a computing device, the set of instructions executing amethod for adaptive compression of image data for transmission anddisplay at a client workstation, said method comprising: identifying oneor more images for display, the one or more images including a pluralityof image slices; determining a compression scheme for the one or moreimages based on at least one of bandwidth, processing power, anddiagnostic modality; transferring the one or more images for display atthe client workstation; and adapting the compression scheme based onresource availability.